alleryStart learning →The radical sign alone never returns a negative value because it denotes the:
APrincipal square root
BSecondary square root
CComplete solution set
DAbsolute difference
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Principal square root
1. The symbol carries a sign convention.
2. Every positive number has two square roots, one positive and one negative.
3. The radical sign denotes the positive square root.
4. The positive square root is also called the principal square root.
5. So the sign alone never returns a negative value.
_Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 9 'Roots and Radicals', sections 9.1-9.8_
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